


Heart of Atlantis

by ameerkatofficial



Category: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Genre: 1920s, AU, Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, Crying, Drinking, Drinking & Talking, F/M, Fade to Black, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, Heart-to-Heart, Just Add Kittens, Memories, Men Crying, Non-Graphic Smut, Nostalgia, Oral Sex, Post-World War I, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Roaring 20s, Rough Sex, Time Skips, Widowed, World War I, a trip down memory lane, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24436042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameerkatofficial/pseuds/ameerkatofficial
Summary: What if Kida died at the end of the battle at Atlantis? How could Atlantis possibly recover? Is it Milo's responsibility to bring back this weary civilization whilst mourning his lost love?While he contemplates that, he makes some depression and alcohol-fueled mistakes when an old friend shows up at his childhood home.
Relationships: Audrey Ramirez & Milo Thatch, Kida Nedakh/Milo Thatch
Kudos: 5





	Heart of Atlantis

**Author's Note:**

> Having some fun tbh like the OG OTP is Kida x Milo but like what-if, ya know? Ugh this is soooo extra (and kinda campy) but I had soooooooo much fun writing it! I don't even care about y'all, I had fun.  
> Also I'm a slut for history honestly, and I love trying to integrate fiction into the real world. Honestly, not quite sure how far I want to go with this. I guess we'll both find out eventually...
> 
> Also fair warning, if you came here for sex, there isn't much...

Yet another battle with the Supreme Court, all the way up to the League of Nations. Yet another outcry for the rights of Atlantean citizens. Yet another asylum and emigration effort halted by nations exhausted by war, whispering of these dark-skinned proto-humans, these savages in rags living amongst ruin. Did they know that it was Atlanteans who birthed the world's languages, their modern technologies, their war-making?

It was six years ago that Milo Thatch disappeared to fulfill the Atlantean monarchy's final wish to restore their culture, their language. It was six years ago that their parliament was started with Kashekim Ekur as Atlantis's first prime minister-elect, on the platform of integrating Atlantean society with the rest of the world at last, a move that Cultural Revitalization Council Head and now-Ambassador Milo Thatch certainly agreed with, but felt it was too premature. Even now he felt it was too premature, but after a remnant of Atlantean war technology was found to have caused German U-boats to fire--ultimately sinking the RMS Lusitania--Prime Minister Ekur's hand was forced during his second term as Atlantis's only elected head-of-state, as was Milo Thatch's.

And how hungry the world was for new blood after so many years of having it shed. 

Milo Thatch was in Fishkill, New York, though not of his own volition. He had been forced back into the United States when the situation became dire. And now the press pounded at his door, starving for harrowing tales of this lost civilization. 

It was six years ago that he had lost one of the dearest friends he ever had, also to the _outside world's_ proclivity for war-making and greed. Perhaps she was just a touch more than a friend, however, if their one night of _knowing_ each other meant a damn anymore. It was funny, Milo began to forget his parent's faces about ten years after their deaths, and yet he could not quite shake the look of _her_ curious, blue gaze, _her_ laughing mouth. Even her voice still came back to him in the hours between night and day. But no matter for such fanciful daydreams anymore. Milo Thatch had work to do, and if for nothing else, it was for the lost Princess Nedakh.

Milo now sat in his study, staring unseeingly at a small picture of his grandfather that sat at his desk that had a small, silver bracelet with pink and blue beads hanging off the corner of the frame, meditating on a headache. 

The sharp ring to his doorbell surprised him, for he had moved out of D.C. for the express purpose of _not_ being disturbed anymore, returning to his old Washington apartment only for his duties as ad hoc ambassador to Atlantis. Milo had a thought to ignore the ring, and very nearly did, when it rang again, and again....After a few rings, he took a deep breath in, then out, his thin hands squeezing his thighs as he mentally prepared himself to stand and face whatever was out there. 

It was late. The audacity these people had, all the way up here, at this time of night. Milo pulled his robe tighter around himself and slipped his feet into his slippers, before slogging toward the front door. 

_"Jiminy Christmas!"_ his voice cracked from lack of use, "Will you _vultures_ leave me alone for just _one second--"_

_"Hello, Milo..."_

Plump, rouge lips smiled up at him beneath a snow-dusted blue cloche hat. The smile hit Milo like a ton of bricks, as the angered creases in his face fell away to shock, his mouth agape. 

_"A-Audrey...?"_ he stuttered, "I-I...I can't believe it's--"

"Yeah, yeah. _Wow I missed you! My God, you're prettier than I remember!_ Now let me in, it's freezing out here!" 

_"Right!"_ Milo quickly moved out of the way before she could barrel through him. She shivered as he muttered and fussed about her, the first house-guest he's had since fleeing up here. He struggled to remember his manners as he accidentally twisted her elbow, trapped in a coat sleeve. After a while, she finally came free, but not before taking a fall, being caught by Milo just before hitting the wooden floor.

"Uh..." he stalled, not quite sure what to do now about the woman in his arms, "Make yourself at home?" 

_"Let me go?"_

_"Oh, Right!"_

He quickly pulled her upright, adjusting her dress before realizing by daggers she was staring that he had gone too far, and quickly pulled his hands back. "I'll uh...put this away--a-and get you a _drink!"_

Milo returned with a pair of glasses half-filled with bourbon to find her gone. Did she always wander so? He noticed a shadow coming from his study. Leave it to Audrey to walk about as if she lived here, though Milo found himself not minding. He desperately wished someone else _would_ live here...

"That's a lot of funny looking maps you've got there, Milo," Audrey mused, clutching a cardboard box to her chest. With a free hand, she poked a large skull with a flat head and large, flat teeth headed by even larger, sharper ones. There were trinkets all around that fascinated Audrey, and he could tell how badly she wished to brush her hand against everything in the room, how she shook with an attempt at self-control. Milo half-smiled, thankful that Audrey's youthful energy had not changed a bit over the past few years. He handed her a glass of bourbon, before taking a healthy swig from his own glass.

"I got a few going-away presents from the people of Atlantis. That up there is a map of what they believed the world looked like--and that is a map of their city, with their pledge of allegiance inscribed on the bottom..." he began to recite the short poem aloud. His accent has much improved over the years, and he sounded nearly like a native. "And that skull belongs to an ancestor of the _obidalbedsugs_ \--the lava dog," he swiped some dust off the top, "I had the modern ancestor as a pet back in Atlantis--Obby lives with Kashe now." 

As he came closer, a corner of the box Audrey held nipped at his chest, and a soft mew emitted from it. Milo stopped, a brow raised in question, as Audrey chuckled. "Oh yeah--I thought you might wanna see someone..."

Audrey placed the cardboard box on the edge of the desk, and pulled out a mass of white fur. Upon further inspection and the appearance of bright, blue eyes, however, Milo was suddenly overcome with a boundless joy.

 _"...Fluffy?"_ he whispered as if he were afraid his voice would puff away the cloud-like feline. Audrey handed the cat to Milo, whose eyes were growing misty behind his wide circle lenses. "Oh you've gotten so _big!"_

"She eats good at _La Casa Ramirez_ ," Audrey giggled, scratching the back of Fluffy's ears, "But she missed you a lot, and I got a feeling you missed _her_ even more." 

Milo replied with a silent nod, looking on the verge of tears as the cat gently head-butted him. He wanted to sob. He wanted to openly sob right there on the floor of his study, loud and ugly. God--how long had it been since he'd had even a _piece_ of his old life? He kissed Fluffy's pink nose before letting her climb to her favorite perch on his shoulder, though at this point she was of a much more ample size than six years ago. 

"Really, Audrey, I can't thank you enough." His voice was thick as his hands ran through Fluffy's white fur, feeling years of anxiety evaporate, "I can't believe...I guess I really missed her more than I thought I did..."

"I can tell," the young woman giggled, leaning over to wipe the tears that were just escaping the rim of Milo's glasses, "I'll miss her too."

"Oh, no Audrey I _couldn't--"_

 _"Shut it_ , Milo," came Audrey's well-missed vivacity, "You became a mess the second I took her out of the box. _I'll live_." Audrey reached up to pet Fluffy's head once more. "Besides, it seems a little lonely here."

"Oh, yeah, well..." Milo scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. It really does get lonely sometimes." 

Audrey frowned as Milo poured himself another glass and seemed to deflate over it. Six years had aged them both some, but Milo seemed to get the worst of it. He was starting to get fine lines, wispy grey hairs that didn't stick to the rest of his hazelnut brown locks. He was frail as a bird, even frailer than he was years ago. He wasn't even the one that went through a world war. 

"How are you doing after...everything?" Audrey asked, gently sitting upon the desk, watching as Fluffy groomed Milo's hair with her hardy pink tongue. Milo didn't even seem to notice as he stared off to an Atlantean warrior's mask hanging on the wall. 

_"Hm?"_ he came back, "Oh. Uh...yeah just...busy. Real busy with... _everything."_

"The world's been busy with everything, Milo," Audrey sighed, "We've just been through a whole war that you were lucky enough to miss."

"Oh yeah--I really missed a whole war, didn't I?" Milo laughed tepidly, though it died down when Audrey didn't join him, "Yeah...how is everything after that? I see you got married!"

"Oh...this thing?" Audrey slipped off a simple gold band, blackened and thick with oil and lubricant. "Yeah...I guess I _was_. He died in battle in France two years ago. I guess I just...forgot to take it off, you know?" She slipped it back on, her finger streaked black. She smiled with the ghost of laughter upon her lips, but she was blinking fast. 

"Audrey, I'm so sorry," Milo touched her hand, "I...wish I knew him. Bet he was great if he managed to even grow on _you_."

" _Mm..._ " the young woman reminisced with a long, deep breath, "One of Vinny's cousins, _Leo._ Big, tall, handsome, but just a little bit _geeky_ \--just how I like 'em. Papi liked him a lot too, before he died. He was a piano teacher..." She reached over and toyed with the bracelet that hung on the picture frame, spinning the center bead absently between her fingers. Milo's eyes widened, but he soon relaxed just as Fluffy hopped off his shoulder, leaving Milo thoroughly groomed with one side of his hair licked flat. 

"Yeah...I know how you feel," Milo sighed in return, "What you're holding there was actually... _hers..."_

 _"Oh!"_ Audrey quickly laid it back where it was, "Sorry, sorry. How...how are you doing about well... _Kida?"_

Milo's brows rose and fell. He hadn't heard anyone use anything but her full name in years, much less say it himself. He took another drink that drained half of his second glass now. " _Fine_ ," he lied. Audrey tipped her head to the side, obviously catching on to his lying. Milo saw this and rolled his eyes, "Well, as fine as I _could be._ "

" _It wasn't your fault, Milo."_

Milo shot her a look, but Audrey remained steady. "Yeah, my psychotherapist tells me that every week," he muttered, "I _know_ it wasn't. And yet--"

"--it's hard. _I know."_ Her gaze was unrelenting on Milo, who seemed rather nervous under it. She missed that about him. "It's hard losing someone you love."

A hush fell softly between them as they both withdrew to their memories, if only to indulge for just a moment in the sweet memories of those long-gone faces. Milo took another drink, Audrey took her first, a big gulp, which she soon regretted.

 _"Augh!_ What _is_ this?" she spat, eyeing the amber liquid.

"I don't know, something Whitmore brought when I first came back," Milo shrugged, "It's kinda strong, but it's grown on me."

"It's more than _strong!"_

Milo chuckled, beaming brighter than he had in years. Audrey was immensely curious of what had gotten into the loon, when she suddenly realized half a second before he said it.

"Hey Audrey..." he spoke low, his voice easy, yet cautious, "you _flinched..._ "

Audrey immediately exploded into a string of Spanish expletives as she shook her fist, nearly falling off the desk. Milo looked to be on the brink of a heart attack despite howling wildly. Despite herself, Audrey still ended up holding out her crystal glass to him. " _Quiero más_ ," she demanded pointedly.

Milo topped her off, and kept topping her off, as they recounted the past six, bitter years. There was howling, and shouting, and ranting, and raving that filled the little Fishkill residence more than it had in years. Until half-past two they cackled and cried as she dared him to quit everything and take up being a plumber.

”I’ll do it only if I bend down and you kiss my rear-end.”

” _Cabrón,_ with you I can’t even tell which end is the _rear_!” She abruptly grabbed Milo and pulled him in by the lapel of his dark brown robe and--

It was sloppy, tasting of bourbon and lip-rouge and motor oil. She bit him, and somewhere deep down in his foggy mind, Milo liked it. 

He pulled her in by her little waist as her ankles crossed behind him, feeling her shape fit into his as she tangled her sturdy fingers through his hair. It started like a brushfire, fast and senseless. Her grip could tear him in two, and he half-hoped she would. He picked Audrey up off the desk. She slammed him into the bookshelf behind them, before sinking down to her knees. His breath was hot. Her breath was _hotter_. Milo's fingers gripped the shelves behind him as his throat rolled down with a half-swallowed minced oath and his eyes crossed, seeing stars.

**Author's Note:**

> crikey


End file.
